If landlords and tenants are willing to listen and communicate, they may be able to resolve disputes themselves.
Last week a landlord-tenant mediation program kicked off in Salt Lake's 3rd Circuit Court. The program, the brainchild of the Salt Lake Community Action Program and the Administrative Office of the Courts, uses trained volunteers as neutral mediators to help landlords and tenants negotiate agreements.Mediation is being used in eviction cases.
Judges praise the program, which is expected to reduce costs, save time and cut down on bad feelings.
"Justice usually is better served if both sides have the feeling they had the opportunity to participate," said Judge Robin W. Reese, 3rd Circuit Court. "We hope while the parties are captive at an abbreviated hearing . . . they will compromise."
More than 50 volunteers have been trained for the sessions, which are held Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons, according to Diane Hamilton, director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Program for the courts. Hamilton conducts the training sessions.
The court typically handles five or six landlord/tenant disputes a day three times a week. During the program's first week, four sets of landlords and tenants opted for the mediation, which is voluntary but cannot be appealed. Once a judge signs off on the mediation agreement, it is binding and subject to court order. In three of those four cases, the two warring parties were able to reach an agreement.
Mediation accommodates more "idiosyncratic" cases, Hamilton said.
In the past, one of two things happened: Either a tenant would stay in the rental unit and post a bond or the landlord was given immediate possession of the property. Solutions now are more creative - and more likely to please both parties.
According to Karen Silver, Salt Lake Community Action Program, tenants and landlords have the right to the same resources, such as lawyers, that they have without mediation.
If the two parties can't reach an agreement, the dispute is taken to a regular court hearing, and the judge decides the outcome.
Judge Robert Hilder, 3rd District Court, presided over the first cases to go through mediation. He described the "tone" of the hearings as better than normal and said that even if a landlord or tenant didn't get everything desired, they found compromises "they can live with."
"Even if it was not resolved, (participants) feel they were heard and understood."
For information on the mediation process, call the Utah Tenants United Helpline at 359-2462.